Criterion is on Hulu

Criterion currently has 6 offerings on Hulu: Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues, New Tale of Zatoichi, The Fugitive, On the Road and Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold. Have I ever heard of any of these? No, but Criterion's selections have always been worth trying. I'm looking forward to seeing what I've been missing and am wondering what delights they might offer on Hulu in the future.

Just doing a bit of googling for introductory information tells me that this is a series of films that are part of a larger universe of films and tv shows. The 17th film was loosely remade as Blind Fury in the U.S. in 1990. The first -Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman- came out in 1962 and the last one available from Hulu was released in 1964.

The first one is embedded below:


The Criterion announcement is here.

HT: /film, who says:

Now, thanks to a deal between Criterion and Hulu, you can watch six of the films, the first chapters in the long series, for free. This looks to be the first of a series of Hulu offerings from Criterion, and it’s a great start.